Waterproof Watch

 

Story:

The Waterproof Watch is another Sother Teague recipe from New York bar Amor y Amargo.  (Here is a video of him teaching someone to make one.)  It’s a variation of our old friend the Negroni, which is equal parts gin/Campari/sweet vermouth.  Here the Aperol takes the place of bitter Campari while Amaro Montenegro provides some dark sweetness instead of the vermouth.  I’m still a novice at figuring out how bitters will affect a particular combination of flavors.  In this drink they seem to bring out the grapefruit flavor of the Aperol and the orange component of the Montenegro.  At this point I usually explain the origin of the cocktail’s name, but I have no idea.  I’ll just say that it’s cool. 
NOTE: In Teague's outstanding book, he defines a dash as two shakes of the inverted bottle.  On the printed recipe I put "4 dashes" because I didn't have room to explain this quirk.

Recipe:

1.5 oz London Dry gin

0.75 oz Aperol

0.75 oz Amaro Montenegro

2 dashes DeGroff's Pimento Bitters (4 shakes of the bottle)

          garnish: orange twist

-add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice; stir until chilled
-strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice

-express orange twist over the drink, then garnish the drink with it.